Give Tyler Dixon a van of Doritos. For the third straight year, against overwhelming odds, the San Diego-born videographer has bagged one of five finalist spots in the much ballyhooed Doritos Super Bowl ad contest.

Two of the five finalist commercials, one chosen by contest judges and a second by online votes cast until Jan. 29 on Facebook via: www.crashthesuperbowl.com, will air during the Feb. 3 Super Bowl.

This year, Dixon, 37, who now divides his time between Utah and Los Angeles, is competing against another former San Diegan, Sasha Shemirani, 32, an L.A. resident. Shemirani’s Doritos commercial features a shopper in a store checkout line stealthily repositioning the grocery divider of a blind man to hijack the man’s Doritos. Shemirani videotaped it at his family’s store, Barons Market in Point Loma, where he worked throughout his teen years.

Sasha Shemirani's Doritos video

After using young adults for his first year entry and adorable dogs his second year, Dixon hopes to have hit upon the winning combo of a pooch and a toddler this year. His ad is set in the back seat of Mom’s car, a dog-eat-dog world. When the family pooch steals the toddler’s tortilla chip, the youngster gets even by holding the next chip out the car window.

Tyler Dixon's Doritos video

Dixon who, despite his previous commercial success, primarily makes his living from selling satellite TV systems door-to-door, hopes this third time is the charm and his ticket to a full-time production career. After all, this year’s winner gets to work with producer Michael Bay on the next Transformers movie.

Both Dixon’s and Shemirani’s commercials highlight their casting skills.

When Dixon’s toddler nephew was unavailable, he chose a 2-year-old Shirley Temple-like actress from more than 40 casting call wannabes, then combed through 100 dog candidates from a Craigslist query.

Shemirani cast an actor friend as the checkout line customer, whose expression is priceless when the “blind” shopper clobbers him with the grocery divider stick.

“We had to film that scene about 40 times,” admits Shemirani. Nevertheless, his actor friend is still speaking to him.

Where’s the meat? Always on the lookout for an exotic “burger of the month,” Slater’s 50/50 burger chain, the brainchild of three SDSU graduates, is offering a meaty cure for post-holiday hangovers. Its January special, the “Bloody Mary Burger,” combines Worcestershire and Tabasco sauces in a beef patty topped with tomatoes, garlic-stuffed olive tapenade and bacon vodka sauce, all stabbed with a celery stalk. The question remains: While it may cure a headache, will it cause heartburn?